Red Sea Mini Expedition May 2005
Added to website: 09 May 2005
More photos coming soon
A further flight delay was announced but waiting at the airport, a group of CCC Society Members craned for a view of the laptop computer as they scanned through 1500 digital underwater photographs taken during an intensive week-long dive trip in the northern Red Sea. Despite the frustrations of international air travel, enthusiasm was still running high! The mini-expedition was a first for the Coral Cay Conservation Society. The objectives were: to provide reef biology education for Members, to develop the Society as a group of conservation-minded individuals and to provide educational links and conservation resources for schools. At the same time CCC wanted to provide a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all participants with a full dive programme made possible by living aboard for the whole week. With an age span of 16-62, the Society had certainly attracted an inclusive mix of divers. Included were a theatre producer, a vet, IT experts, a US Government accountant, an environmental official, a management consultant from Madrid, a banker, a semi-retired marketing consultant and a sixth-form student.
Lectures alternated with dives as the 33 metre MV Golden One progressed from Hurghada northwards as far as The Ras Mohammed Marine Park located off the tip of the Sinai Peninsular. Looking for incerpt and excerpt polyps, the participants quickly learned the first steps in coral species identification and could soon separate Acropora and non-Acropora species and assign life form categorisations. Further lectures covered other Cnidarians, sponges, molluscs, crustaceans, Echinoderms, and fish. The dives included drift dives along the outer reef, a wall dive on the vertical underwater cliff that plunges to over 500m off the Sinai shore and night dives which provided an opportunity to move slowly, close-in to the reef, as torchlight revealed sleeping parrot fish and the many miniscule creatures, such as tiny red hermit crabs 5-7 mm across, that emerge to feed at night.
The schools educational programme depended on the use of a Polycom PVX sponsored satellite antenna to link to a special website set up by Birmingham City. With careful compass and vertical plane alignment the satellite link worked well from the boat in calm seas but later in the week strong Force 6 winds caused problems and the final hook-up was accomplished on return to harbour. On board Golden One, Dr Mike Farmer, a consultant for the Birmingham Grid for Learning was able to answer questions posted on-line from school students so providing an interactive learning resource in something close to real time. This resource will be further developed over the coming weeks and months.
The Society encourages everyone to improve their diving as reefs are less likely to be damaged by skilled divers. During the trip 6 members took advantage of a free Nitrox course and another upgraded from PADI Open Water to Advanced Open Water.
After returning to the shore base CCC met with the Red Sea Association to discuss conservation issues. CCC intends to develop links and collaborate with in-country conservation interests wherever it organises a Members’ trip. In Egypt the reefs are under pressure from tourist development and careful planning of protection programmes is vital for the future.
The CCC Society will be consulting Members in the near future to discuss future activities. The Society has already been asked to consider organising a trip to the Southern Red Sea, diving the offshore reefs and underwater pinnacles with their pristine coral and excellent populations of fish including the larger pelagic species such as manta rays and shark species.
